(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to elevated microwave cooking utensils, in particular an inexpensive elevated paperboard cooking platform provided with a series of pores or larger openings in its cooking surface that provide direct contact between food supported on the platform and air beneath the platform, and that enable the platform to be used in the microwave cooking of foods prepared specifically for cooking in conventional convection heating and conduction heating ovens, in addition to cooking foods prepared specifically for cooking in microwave ovens.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Prior art microwave cooking utensils are currently designed, for the most part, for use in cooking microwavable foods or foods prepared specifically for microwave cooking. Many of these utensils are inexpensive and are made a part of the packaging of the microwavable food, or are included in the packaging. Many utensils serve only to elevate the food in the microwave oven and do nothing to reduce the sogginess, or improve the appearance or texture of the food. Some more expensive microwave cooking utensils include features that improve the appearance and/or the texture of microwave cooked foods. Utensils of this type commonly include a metallic microwave interactive layer that converts microwave energy into heat. These metallic layers become extremely hot when subjected to microwaves and, in effect, fry foods placed on the layers in much the same manner as a heated skillet. The heat produced by the interactive layer of these utensils evaporates only a relatively small amount of the moisture emitted from the microwave cooked foods. Evaporation of moisture is important as it reduces the sogginess or doughy texture that is a common attribute of microwave cooked foods, especially foods comprising doughs, such as pizza. The heat given off by the microwave interactive layer of conventional utensils is also used in browning some foods to improve their texture, for example, browning the crust of pizza.
However, providing a metallic microwave interactive layer on cooking utensils of the type included with the packaging of food has the drawback of substantially increasing the cost of the packaging.
Moreover, the metallic microwave interactive layer retains heat and is often still quite hot when the packaging is removed from the microwave oven after cooking. The heated metallic layer on these packages can cause burns if the package is not handled cautiously.
Furthermore, no matter what particular features a conventional microwave utensil may comprise, to obtain good results in cooking by microwave, it is advisable to use food products specifically produced for cooking by microwave. Despite the beneficial features that have been incorporated into conventional microwave cooking utensils, up to this time, no microwave cooking utensil has been developed that is capable of microwave cooking foods prepared for cooking in conventional ovens such as conduction or convection heating ovens, as well as cooking foods specifically prepared for cooking by microwave. This is because conventional food recipes, or recipes that have not been specifically prepared for microwave cooking, commonly contain ingredients that are not well suited for cooking by microwave. Examples of these ingredients are yeast and other leavening agents.
Yeast doughs and yeast containing products are not suited to be cooked by microwave because the combination of heat and moisture produced in the foods cooked by microwave reactivates the yeast, causing the yeast to soften and the dough or food product containing the yeast to break apart. To overcome this problem, some excess moisture in the food must be removed as the food cooks. In conventional ovens, the heat in the air surrounding the food causes much of the moisture produced by the cooking food to evaporate. In microwave cooking, the air surrounding the food is not heated and only the heat of the food itself causes a small portion of the moisture produced by the cooking food to evaporate. To compound the problem, microwave ovens are sealed to a greater extent than conventional ovens, and a large portion of the moisture that evaporates from microwave cooked foods is prevented from leaving the oven interior.
The elevated microwave cooking platform of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages found in prior art microwave cooking utensils, by providing a microwave cooking utensil that is constructed entirely of paperboard and is therefore inexpensive, it does not significantly interact with microwaves nor does it retain sufficient heat to cause burns, and it is readily incorporated into packaging material or included as part of the packaging of food. Furthermore, the absorbency of the paperboard construction of the cooking platform of the present invention combined with its structural configuration together adapt the platform to be used in microwave cooking foods prepared for cooking in conventional heat conduction and convection heating ovens, as well as in cooking foods specifically prepared for microwave cooking, by removing some of the moisture produced by the microwave cooked food from the surrounding environment of the food.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a microwave cooking utensil that is inexpensive paperboard and is designed to be included in the packaging of food, that adapts food specifically prepared for cooking by conventional conduction and convection heating ovens to cook by microwave and improves the results obtained in cooking microwavable food by removing moisture from the food and its surroundings as it cooks.